Archaeological Theory: An Introduction

An easy-to-read, comprehensive consideration of major traditions in archaeological theory. Johnson is succinct and explicit, incorporating major scholars, historical influences, issues, critiques, and responses to critiques in each thematic chapter. In the first chapter he does the discipline (indeed, all disciplines) a favor by emphasizing both the importance and inevitability of theory in scientific research in a comprehensible manner. He also incorporates trends from both the American and British archaeological disciplines, considering historical influences that led to the academic divisions, as well as how each has influenced the other. His consideration begins with early trends in cultural history and includes evolutionary, behavioral, processual, and post-processual trends. I especially appreciate his attention to the differences between post-processual and post-modern, and evolution and neo-evolutionary approaches. He includes the work of scholars such as Childe, Binford, Tilley, Marx, Sahlins, and Hodder, and each chapter's case study provides a clear example of the chapter's theme. As a socio-cultural anthropology student, this is going to become my go-to reference book for basic information and reminders on archaeology and the scholars of each tradition. It would also make an excellent book for an introduction to theory for any student of archaeology, and would be accessible to general-level college classes. It was used in my upper-level graduate course as the groundwork for the dense academic articles assigned in tandem with the chapters (yes, we read the entire book). I would also recommend this book for any history enthusiast, dig volunteer, or curious person who desires a better understanding of how our viewpoints, social situations, and bias affect our research. Thank you, Dr. Johnson, for this exceptional textbook! This no-longer confused anthropologist is grateful :)

Clearly written with a strong thread of commonality that discusses the transformation of archaeology and the theoretical underpinnings.

To any student of of archaeology, from 101 to the professional, Johnson's coverage of archaeological theory is both palatable and engaging. Written in a conversational tone, consider this publication a breath of fresh air after reading some of the more dry and dense literature of theoretical overviews. In addition to being a great first introduction to archaeological theory for undergraduates or advocationalists, it is nonetheless a fantastic read for post-grads and professionals simply looking to review and reflect.

Great book but it seems to be a book about archaeological Philosiphers(how ever you spell it)Theory, theory, theory No one has a clue. But they way to much time on their hands.

The book is awesome, but I can't find PAGE NUMBERS in the Kindle version. I"m pretty ticked off. You have to know that's how professors assign readings for textbooks, and this is obviosly a textbook. Fix your issues Amazon.

I was having some difficulty in an Archaeology course and this REALLY helped me understand Theory and application. My grade reflected this!

Recommend this to anyone teaching or taking an archaeological theory course and who is looking for well presented introductory material. .

If you're buying this book, it's probably required reading. Fear not! it's not so bad... It could be worse?? maybe?

Easy to read. Essential book for anyone studying archaeology. It is informative and it tells you what you need. The kindle version doesn't give you the page numbers which is a down, as you then need a hard copy if you are using it as a reference.

good price for this book. usually retails at textbook stores for 61$. It was a required book for my class.

Had to read this for class. It's not as dry as most of its genre.

One of the best resource books available on archaeology. Excellent reference book. Highly recommend.

This is recommended reading for my Archaeological Theory module and the book itself is great and I'd recommend it to anyone as a thought provoking introduction to archaeological theory. However the kindle edition doesn't include page numbers which makes it useless to reference without a physical copy. As an academic piece of writing you'd think they'd include page numbers! I'd reccomend buying the physical copy even though it us a little bit more expensive if you are going to use this in academia.